Let’s Use This Thing!
I installed Lexicon Native PCM Reverb into a MAC PPC Quadcore running OS 10.4.11 and open it as an RTAS plug-in in Pro Tools HD session.
While the software runs fine in this old OS, it runs better in 10.5 or above. It authorizes via iLok and there are mono, stereo and mono (input)-to-stereo (output) versions available.
Great room sounds might be the ultimate quest - the ‘holy grail’ for high-end reverberators with percussive sounds the most challenging sound sources.
How does the reverb algorithm handle percussive attacks and simulate the thousands if not millions of reflections that happen in a real room? Does it ‘boing’ when a sharp-sounding snare drum is put to it?
In short, how realistic does a synthesized room sound?
I have to say I was impressed from the moment I first heard this plug-in at the recent New York AES convention - the true, great sound of a Lexicon room in a plug-in! I am so ready for this!
In Session
Here at my Tones 4 $ Studios, I was in the middle of a hard rock project at the last tweak stages and I wanted to replace other reverbs with Lexicon Native PCM to see if I could get something better going on.
Sample: PCM Plug-in Vintage Plate Frequency Notch. (click to enlarge)
The current pop/rock music aesthetic does not call for much long reverb treatment but the producer and artist wanted the drums to sound like they were recorded in a big room - which of course, they were not.
The first song moved at a fast clip - 153 BPM so I couldn’t add a giant room with a lot of lengthy aftermath. It had to build quickly and decay fairly quickly.
I chose the Medium Vocal Concert 1 in the Medium Halls category of the Concert Hall plug-in. I set Predelay to a 32nd note, Reverb Time to 2.3388 seconds, Reverb Out Frequency to 7125Hz, and Diffusion to 70 percent.
Tail Width sets the stereophonic width of the reverb’s tail and I narrowed it down to 38 degrees because the default wider stereo setting tended to wash the stereo drum stage out.
In the Reverb sub parameters, I set Bass RT to 2.75X because I put some of this reverb even on the kick drum. Size was set to 39 meters. The GUI looked like the Barry’s EXAMPLE 1 graphic here.
Barry’s EXAMPLE 1 graphic. (click to enlarge)
By adding a small amount of this reverb, I got drums to sound like they were playing in small hall or large reverberant club show room.
The drum sound was present, realistic and powerful sounding. While a drummer playing at this tempo cannot do many fills or anything else, whenever there were breaks in the music, the reverb tail sounded like room decay.
A great bass will groove tight with the drums and support the guitars...
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